Are you ready to stand out in your next copywriting interview or discovery call? Whether you’re applying for an on staff position or a freelance role, the key to success lies in the right preparation.
That’s why we’re taking you back to this must-listen episode of the Build Your Copywriting Business podcast, where Nicki and Kate share their top tips on how to ace the prep for your copywriting interview. You’ll learn key steps that many copywriters overlook—steps that could be the difference between landing the job or not. Tune in now to boost your chances of securing your next copywriting gig!
(Psst: You’ll also want to check out part two to know what to do during the interview and part three to set yourself apart from the competition once the interview is over!)
TUNE IN: Spotify | Apple Podcasts | Stitcher
Looking for closed captioning or a transcript? Watch the episode on YouTube!
A Sneak Peek at the Episode
[3:32] Whether you want a full-time position or you’re pitching for freelance work, avoid “one-click applications” at all costs! It’s worth doing a bit of research to find out who the hiring manager is as they are the best people to judge your application.
[5:35] Make sure you read through the *whole* job description. More and more companies (including FRW!) are burying little tasks in the application to help them weed out people who don’t read the full description.
[8:45] Don’t be dissuaded by the qualifications you might see listed on a job application. Employers have to ask for *some* level of experience otherwise they’d get applicants with … zero experience. The skills you show in your portfolio are going to have more of an impact—that’s another reason why your application needs to be in the hands of the hiring manager, not the internal recruiter.
[10:45] A lot of agencies ask for agency experience but don’t let that put you off. What they’re really looking for is that you can manage a lot of different projects and clients. And as a copywriter who’s built your own copywriting business, you already know how to do that!
[11:35] Be cautious when describing yourself as “detail-oriented” since employers may scrutinize your application more closely for errors. Instead, Kate and Nicki suggest demonstrating this quality by, ahem, reading the *full* job description!
Must-Hear Takeaways
As with every episode, we highly encourage you to listen to the entire conversation! But here are a few of the highlights:
“If you don’t take the job time to read the job description, you do not deserve the job. You don’t deserve an interview. It means you’re not going to take the time necessarily to do the work and to slow down and to give the work the time it deserves. So be thorough if it’s a job that you actually want.” – Nicki
“If you have a great portfolio, I don’t care if you went to college. If you can do the job well, then that’s what I care about. So when you see qualifications, things like ‘must have a bachelor’s degree in this’, same thing with experience, ‘must have two to three years experience’—people put that in there because they have to put something. If this is zero experience, then they’re going to get people with zero experience. And the truth is, CCA students, you don’t have zero experience.” – Nicki
“Along with qualifications, a big one is ‘must have agency experience’. A lot of agencies put that. And it’s kind of a catch-22 if you’re trying to break it into an agency. And literally every agency is like, well, you must already have agency experience. Don’t let that be a barrier either. I think the big thing agencies are looking for is that you can manage a lot of different projects, potentially multiple different clients. And as a copywriter who’s built your own copywriting business, you already know how to do that. You’re kind of like a one person agency already, right? You’re doing multiple different things, handling multiple different projects, multiple clients, multiple timelines. And so you can speak to that. So don’t let agency experience get in the way.” – Kate
Mentioned on this Episode
Related Links
- Questions to Prepare For in a Copywriting Job Interview
- Copywriting Q&A: Super-Charged Job-Hunting Tactics
- How to Elevate Your Profile & Land Copywriting Clients on LinkedIn
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About the Build Your Business Podcast
Ready to turn your love of writing into a successful copywriting career?
Join professional copywriters Nicki Krawczyk and Kate Sitarz to get the tips, tools, and training to help you become a copywriter and build a thriving business of your own. Nicki and Kate have 20+ and 10+ years of experience, respectively, writing copy for multi-billion-dollar companies, solopreneurs, and every size business in between.
Whether you want to land an on-staff job, freelance full-time and work from wherever you want, or make extra money with a side hustle, the best place to start learning is right here.
